Today, as never before, oil spills from off shore accidents by oil transporting vessels and drilling operations have been causing hundreds of millions of dollars of damages world wide. More important is the damage done to marine and shoreline facilities. Wildlife and marine life are a grave concern to all. Wildlife is being decimated in many areas. As more super tankers ply the waters of the world spilling oil and offshore wells spill oil, there is an ever increasing threat to the environment.
Various chemicals have been used such as detergents and surface active agents to dispense oil spills. In most cases they only spread the spills over a larger area. Also, these chemicals are pollutants which kill marine life. In most cases the chemicals are expensive and the oil cannot be salvaged for processing.
Several oil absorbing materials have been used such as straw or vermiculite to spread on the surface of the water where the oil leakage occurs. These items have good absorption advantages. However, when these materials are recovered they ultimately become waste products and oil cannot be recovered. Saw dust is another particulate used for such oil spills on water, highways, drilling rigs, manufacturing areas and on the ground along beaches and coastal locations. The disadvantage of saw dust is that it forms a fine dust which is highly inflammable and can cause a dust explosion. Also, it is difficult to retrieve in most areas where it is applied.
Numerous materials and methods had been proposed for oil absorption and removal. U.S. Pat. No. 3,536,616 discloses discreet particles of light weight material which are coated with a fluid sealant and a material having a high affinity for oil. The particles are spread on the water to absorb the oil and collected for oil removal.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,340,486; and 3,607,741 disclosed the use of strips of netting and cellulosic material contained in the netting for contacting an oil spill on water to either contain the oil spill or absorb the same on water.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,006,079 discloses a mat of glass fibers bonded to a scrim net for increased oil absorption and strength. U.S. Pat. No. 3,962,083 discloses a method of treating a shore line contaminated from an oil spill wherein a web is formed of cellulosic fibers absorbs the oil. The web may consist of two layers of fibers supported on an intermediate scrim which is netting. Alternately, a layer of shredded oil absorbing material may be contained between two layers of plastic netting and stitched together.
While the above may be suitable for some applications, the need for a method and material to absorb oil, particularly large quantities from oil spills on water, which is sufficiently inexpensive and efficiently strong and oil absorptive still exists.
It has so been proposed to form a carded or crosslapped web of polypropylene material stitched longitudinally to hold the fibers together and use the material for oil absorption. However, tensile strength is limited and the material is suitable mainly for dispersement from relatively short rolls, and for oil absorption around equipment and in areas where oil spill may occur. Further, it is known to utilize a melt-blown web of polypropylene material for oil absorption. Neither of the latter two nonwoven fabrics have sufficient strength for use in wide rolls of sufficient length to permit the same to be used for oil spill recovery on the surface of water in a method wherein the material may be unwound from one barge and rewound at another.
Generally, nonwoven webs have been formed from synthetic materials such as polyproplyene, polyester, and rayon for a variety of purposes.
Dispersement of the oil from the area in which the spill occurs and disposal or recovery of the oil once it is controlled by efficient and economical materials and methods are problems to which considerable attention need be given.
Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a simple and reliable manner of controlling oil spills and recovery of the oil thereafter.
Another object of the invention is to provide an improved oil absorbent, fabricated fibrous material which can easily absorb oil on water and land with retractive capabilities.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a material web consisting of cotton waste materials for oil spill recovery having sufficient strength to permit unwinding of long lengths of the web from one barge and rewinding on another barge after absorbing oil from the surface of water.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a method and material for absorbing oil from a surface wherein short cotton waste fibers are formed into a nonwoven web and needled into a scrim material resulting in a strong and inexpensive material for oil spill recovery.
More particularly, the invention when applied to the oil spill enables efficient, effective and economic oil containment. The recovery of the oil can also be efficient, effective, and economical.